Thirty years after Yohji Yamamoto's first show in Paris, a retrospective at London's Victoria & Albert Museum looks back on his ground-breaking body of work and conceptual approach to fashion. Together with Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons and Issey Miyake, Yamamoto can be credited with the establishment of the Japanese aesthetic in global fashion. Whether his designs are described by the attributes of "avant-garde," "poetic" or "enigmatic," they have never ceased to deliver strong statements about elegance and sobriety. "With my eyes turned to the past, I walk backwards into the future," he famously said to define his approach to fashion.

Two other projects are being run in South London to coincide with the exhibition: a display of photographs entitled "Yohji's Women" (until May 14), and "Yohji Making Waves" (until July 14), an installation of the famous 1998 over-sized silk wedding dress with bamboo crinoline. The curator, Ligaya Salazar, answered our questions the organization of the show, Yamamoto's designs and his approach to collaboration.

ELLE: How did you and Yohji Yamamoto start working on this exhibition ?LS: The V&A has long-standing links with Yohji Yamamoto as we had previously included his work in exhibitions such as Radical Fashion in 2001 and Fashion V Sport in 2008. Therefore it was quite an organic process to start developing the concept for the exhibition. It just felt like the right time.

ELLE: How did you decide on the selection and arrangement of the mannequins in the show ?LS: When I started working on this exhibition over two years ago, I worked very closely with Masao Nihei, a long-term collaborator of Yohji Yamamoto's and the exhibition and lighting designer of this exhibition. We had several conversations about the nature of the exhibition and the main gallery before I went to both of Yamamoto's archives in France and Japan to do the pre-selection of the garments. The experience of the exhibition was always meant to be one that allows the visitor to see the garments up close, so the groupings of the garments were really my way of conveying some of the themes in his work.

ELLE: How have Yohji Yamamoto's visionary designs challenged the conventions of fashion?LS: The way he used colour, the way he used textile and cut and the way he redrew the female silhouette. His designs indicated that clothing could be more than a trouser or a skirt, an idea journalist Harriet Quick dubbed a "resolved garment."

ELLE: What are the central elements of his work represented in the retrospective?LS: The exhibition attempts to give an insight into the breadth of his work over the last 30 years. It includes menswear for the first time in an exhibition and places his work in conversation with our permanent galleries.

ELLE: Why is he still today considered to be a non-traditionalist designer ?LS: Yohji Yamamoto still challenges himself every time he designs a garment, he thrives on finding a new detail and new approach. He also disregards trends and designs clothes that are meant to withstand longer than just a season.

ELLE: How do you explain the timelessness of Yamamoto designs ?LS: Yohji Yamamoto designs clothes to last for as long as possible. From the choice of fabric up to the details of his designs, his key inspiration is vintage clothes—in particular old uniforms and work clothes. Therefore, even the pieces from the 1980s do not feel dated at all.

ELLE: What is his approach to collaboration ?LS: Yohji Yamamoto said to me that he always leaves 5-10% of his design unfinished or open. This leaves a small part of his design open to interpretation by the photographer, the press, the customer or the curator. I believe it is this approach that makes his collaborations so interesting.

Yohji Yamamoto is open at the V&A London until 10 July 2011 visit www.vam.ac.uk for further details.